Safety razor with adjustable blade exposure



Jan. 7, 1964 J. P. MUROS 3,116,553

SAFETY RAZOR WITH ADJUSTABLE BLADE EXPOSURE Filed March 24, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIG. 2

INVENTOR. JOSEPHPMUROS ATTORNEYS Jan. 7, 1964 J. P. MuRos 3,116,553

SAFETY RAZOR WITH ADJUSTABLE BLADE EXPOSURE Filed March 24, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3 j

INVENTOR. JOSEPHFBMUROS [Mam ATTORNEYS United States Patent (3 3,116,553 SAFETY RAZOR WITH ADJUSTABLE BLADE EXPOSURE Joseph P. Muros, Newtonville, Mass., assignor to The Gillette Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 24, 1961, Ser. No. 98,161 9 Claims. (Cl. 30-605) This invention relates to safety razors of one-piece construction wherein the component elements of the razor remain interconnected at all times to facilitate blade replacement without the necessity of handling the separate parts. The invention comprises new and improved mechanism providing convenient and :accurate means for adjusting the edge exposure of the blade in such a razor. This mechanism is characterized by separate guard members mounted in opposite sides of the razor head to rock in assuming difierent positions of blade exposure. Such guard members have the advantage that they may be struck out of sheet metal in identical shape and located in right and left hand positions in the razor head.

The razor of the present invention is further characterized in that one of the cooperating blade-clamping members is given the :additional function of supporting both guard members for rocking into different positions of predetermined blade exposure. Going into more detail, the razor head includes a stationary blade-clamping plate having a pivot element at each edge upon which a guard member is disposed and supported for rocking or angular movement. Adjusting movement of the guard members upon the blade clamping plate is eifected through an arm of each guard member arranged to bear upon an adjustable collar that is movable to cause angular movement of the guard members and so determines the position selected by the user for the desired exposure.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings in which- FIG. 1 is a view of the complete razor in longitudinal section adjusted for minimum edge exposure,

FIG. 2 is a corresponding view showing the razor adjusted for maximum edge exposure, and

(FIG. 3 is a view in perspective showing the parts of the razor seen in exploded relation.

As herein shown the handle 9 of the razor includes an outer tube 10 and an inner tube 11 concentrically disposed therein and shouldered at its upper end as shown in FIG. 3. Permanently secured to the upper end of the inner tube 11 is an elongated spring plate 12 substantially rectangular in contour and provided with a central aperture 13 to receive the shouldered end of the tube 11. The spring plate is provided at its opposite edges with upstanding flanges 14 and 15 that engage the guard members as will presently be explained. The plate .12 has also a pair of holes 16 located at either side of its central aperture, end notches 17 and corner notches 18.

The separate guard members 20 are identical in shape though shown in right and left positions in FIG. 3. Each of them has a convex guard flange 21 at its outer edge terminating in corner lugs 22. Each guard member has a pair of elongated slots 23 located within or behind its guard flange 21 and adjacent to the outer ends of these slots are formed pivot elements in the shape of upstanding knife edge fulcrums 24. From the inner edge of each member projects a pair of angular arms 25 and these are arranged to extend inwardly and downwardly through the holes 16 of the spring plate 12, fitting loosely therein and holding each guard member against displacement while permitting it to rock freely upon its fulcrums 24.

miss-t Patented Jan. 7, 1964 Above the guard members 20 is disposed a stationary blade-supporting plate 30, also rectangular in contour and provided with a central aperture 31 which is formed in the bottom of a downwardly offset diamond-shaped depression 32. The end of the tube 11 passes through the aperture 31 and is flanged or spun over to make permanent connection with the plates 12 and 3%). At each side of the aperture 31 of the plate is formed a pair of oppositely arranged openings 33 which provide clearance for the downturned arms 25 of the guard members. At each corner of the plate is provided a lug 34- having adjacent thereto a V-shaped groove 35 which receives one of the knife edge fulcrums 24 of the guard members. The corner lugs 34 supplement a pair of center lugs 36 and these engage the underlying guard members and limit their positions of minimum edge exposure as shown in FIG. 1. The plate 30 also has downturned cars 37 that fit over the shouldered ends of the guard members 20 and the spring plate 12.

A collar 38 has threaded connection with the inner tube 11 of the handle. it is flanged at its upper end and provided with a flat circular surface underlying the spring plate 12, this plate being in effect a bottom cover for the razor head. The end surface of the collar is engaged by the downturned arms 25 of the guard members 2t) and so determines their adjusted positions in the razor head. The collar carries numerals running from 1 to 9 serving as an index by which the user may set the collar for the desired edge exposure. As shown in FIG. 1 the collar is set at its lowest position indicated by the flgure 1 and the flanges 21 of the guard members 20 are shown as rocked upwardly for minimum blade exposure. On the other hand in FIG. 2 the collar 38 is shown as screwed upwardly to its top position wherein the guard members 20 are rocked downwardly to their position of maximum edge exposure against the pressure of the spring cover plate 12 which is flexed transversel yin this operation.

An important advantage of the rocking guard construction is that when the guard members are rocked toward their positions of maximum exposure, the overall width or separation of the guard flanges is contracted and therefore the gap about the blade edges is not noticeably increased although the actual blade exposure has been increased to the degree desired by the user.

The razor is completed by a spindle 40 carrying at its upper end a cross bar 41 to which are pivotally connected cap sections 42 cooperating with the blade supporting plate 30 in clamping the blade 43. The spindle 40 is moved longitudinally in the razor to clamp or release the blade by means of a nut 44 having threaded connection with its lower end and engaged by the outer tube 10 of the razor handle. The spindle and cap sections are more fully described in my United States Latters Patent No. 2,009,272 dated July 23, 1935 to which reference may be had for further details of construction.

In assembling the razor parts above described the guard members 20 are placed upon the flanges 14 and 15 of the spring plate 12 with their angular arms 25 hooked loosely with the holes 16. The blade supporting plate 30 rests upon the guard members 211 With its down-turned ears 37 fitting over the ends of the plate 12 and its end notches registering with the end notches 17 of the plate. The knife edge fuicrums 24 of the guard members are engaged in the V-grooves 35 of the plate 31) along a line lying within the flanges 14 and 15 so that pressure applied to the guard members by the plate 14 tends to rock them in opposite directions as far as permitted by the arms 25 in their engagement with the end surface of the collar 38. The registering end notches of the spring plate 12 and the supporting plate 30 provide clearance for the passage of down-turned arms of the cross bar or spider 41 that carry the cap'sections 42.

In use the blade 43 may be clamped in shaving position between the blade-supporting plate 30 and the cap sections 42 by drawing down the spindle 40 through the medium of the tubular nut 44. In its position of minimum edge exposure, indicated by the figure 1 on the collar 38, there is substantial clearance space beneath the spring plate 12. If the user desires an edge exposure greater than minimum he has only to turn the collar, moving it upwardly and thereby rocking the guard members to positions of greater edge exposure against the upward yielding pressure of the spring plate which is free to flex transversely under these conditions.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail an illustrative embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a safety razor with adjustable blade exposure, an elongated resilient spring plate having a flange at each edge, a pair of guard members each engaged by one flange, and an overhead plate bearing upon both guard members inside their line of engagement by the flanges of the spring plate, said guard members being rockabiy mounted with respect to said overhead plate and means engaging the guard members on the inside of their line of engagement by the overhead plate to maintain said members in positions of adjusted edge exposure against the resilient opposition of said spring plate.

2. A safety razor comprising an elongated spring plate, a pair of rockably mounted guard members engaged at the opposite edges of said spring plate, and blade clamping members, one of which bears upon both guard members in maintaining the angular position thereof in the razor.

3. A safety razor as described in claim 2, further characterized in that the guard members have projecting knife edge fulcrums and that an overlying blade clamping member has V-shaped grooves receiving said fulcrums.

4. A safety razor comprising a fixed carrier with V- shaped grooves adjacent each side thereof, a pair of guard members having knife-edge fulcrums received in said grooves, said members being mounted on opposite sides of the carrier; and a spring plate having flanges offset with respect to said fulcrums, means for loosely connecting the inner edges of the guard members to said fixed carrier, and a movable collar for applying pressure to the guard members through the medium of said connecting means against the resilient opposition of said spring plate.

5. A safety razor as described in claim 4, further characterized in that the carrier is perforated to receive angle arms projecting from both guard members, and that the collar is adjustably mounted beneath the carrier for limiting the rocking movement of the guard members by engagement with said angle arms.

' 6. A safety razor comprising a handle having secured to its end a flexible spring plate and an overlying bladesupporting plate having downwardly directed pivot elements, a pair of separate guard members interposed between the spring plate and' said blade-supporting plate and having upwardly directed pivot elements cooperating with said downwardly directed pivot elements to permit said guard members to rock with respect to said blade supporting plate, and means for rocking the guard members against the tension of the spring plate into diilerent positions of edge exposure.

7. A safety razor comprising a handle having secured thereto a flexible spring plate having an upwardly extending flange and an overlying blade-supporting plate having downwardly directed pivot means, a guard member interposed between said spring plate and said blade-supporting plate in engagement with said flange of said spring plate and having upwardly directed pivot means cooperating with said pivot means of said blade-supporting plate to permit said guard member to rock about an axis transversely of said handle and parallel with the blade edge against the resilient opposition of said spring plate, and adjustable means on said handle in engagement with said guard member at a point remote from the point of engagement between saidguard and said spring plate.

8. A safety razor comprising a fixed carrier having a V-shaped groove adjacent one side thereof, a guard member having a knife-edge fulcrum received in said groove, a spring plate having a flange offset with respect to said fulcrum in engagement with said guard member, and adjusting means engaging said guard member at a point offset with respect to said fulcrum and remote from the point of engagement with the spring plate for selectively rocking said guard member against the resilient opposition of said spring plate and thereby varying blade edge exposure.

9. In a safety razor with adjustable edge exposure of its blade, an elongated resilient spring plate having an upstanding flange on one edge, a guard member engaged by said flange, an overhead plate member, means pivotally mounting said guard member with respect to said plate member and holding said guard member in place against said flange, and adjustable means in engagement with said guard member for moving it with respect to said plate member about said pivotally mounting means into positions of different edge exposure against the resilient opposition of said spring plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,332,553 Halterman Mar. 2, 1920 2,754,583 Liberatore July 17, 1956 2,934,821 Bailey et al. May 3, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 455,311 .Great Britain Oct. 10, 1936 

1. IN A SAFETY RAZOR WITH ADJUSTABLE BLADE EXPOSURE, AND ELONGATED RESILIENT SPRING PLATE HAVING A FLANGE AT EACH EDGE, A PAIR OF GUARD MEMBERS EACH ENGAGED BY ONE FLANGE, AND ON OVERHEAD PLATE BEARING UPON BOTH GUARD MEMBERS INSIDE THEIR LINE OF ENGAGEMENT BY THE FLANGES OF THE SPRING PLATE, SAID GUARD MEMBERS BEING ROCKABLY MOUNTED WITH RESPECT TO SAID OVERHEAD PLATE AND MEANS ENGAGING THE GUARD MEMBERS ON THE INSIDE OF THEIR LINE OF ENGAGEMENT BY THE OVERHEAD PLATE TO MAINTAIN SAID MEMBERS IN POSITIONS OF ADJUSTED EDGE EXPOSURE AGAINST THE RESILIENT OPPOSITION OF SAID SPRING PLATE. 